The Illinois General
Assembly has reconvened in Springfield and the ISVMA is already very
active on a couple of issues:

HB4367 was
introduced by Representative William Black (R-Danville) on behalf of a
coalition of animal control administrators and officials. The bill is a
comprehensive redrafting of the Animal Control Act. ISVMA met with
representatives of the animal control agencies to discuss the bill and
have agreed to work together throughout the legislative session. We have
suggested some changes to their initial draft and both parties are
anxious to work together to pass an amendment to clean up the Animal
Control Act.

SB2214 was
introduced by Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) on behalf of the
ISVMA. This bill would statutorily accomplish what we have negotiated
for months with the Illinois Department of Revenue (DOR). The DOR has
yet to issue a policy notification to effect the changes that we've
negotiated. The bill would provides that a serviceman is not required
to register as a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act if: (i)
all of his or her sales activities constitute accommodation retail sales
made to service customers; and (ii) these accommodation retail sales do
not exceed 3% of the serviceman's annual revenues from sales of service.

Recruit a Member to Win - Contest Ends Soon!

Who knew encouraging
colleagues to join ISVMA could be so rewarding? For every colleague
you recruit that becomes a new member by January 31, 2006, you'll be entered
in a drawing to win a $300 prepaid
gift card! The more colleagues that join, the more chances
you have to win.

Not only are you
rewarded with the opportunity to win, your colleague will receive 50%
off the remainder of this year's membership dues! Simply
download the special membership application, make sure your
name on the "Name of Sponsoring Veterinarian" line and pass it along.

The ISVMA recently organized a 501(c)3 foundation for the
purpose of supporting projects related to veterinary medicine. Contributions
to the Illinois Veterinary Medical Foundation (IVMF) are tax-deductible, so
as you are preparing to make charitable contributions at the close of this
tax year or if you are looking to make contributions to limit your exposure
to the Capital Gains Tax, please consider a donation to the IVMF.

One of the initial projects being support by the IVMF is
the development of a Veterinary Heritage Museum at the University of
Illinois. The purpose is to
organize a collection of hundreds of artifacts, research and historical
documents that chronicle the everyday efforts and extraordinary achievements
of Illinois' veterinary practitioners, educators and researchers.

Please support the development of a Heritage Museum
with your contribution to:

The
Black Bellied Whistling-Duck is a handsome, conspicuous bird that will often
rest on large tree branches, stakes, or poles in the water or, less
commonly, on the ground. They are easily domesticated and are quite tame
even in the wild. Almost entirely herbivorous, they feed in shallow water on
tubers and other aquatic vegetation, as well as in grain fields. Unlike many
ducks, this species is largely nocturnal, migrating at night and resting and
feeding during the day. It was formerly known as the "Black-bellied Tree
Duck."

This duck is primarily Mexican and in the U.S., the Black-bellied Whistling
Duck is usually found only in south Texas and Louisiana. Interestingly, a
Black-bellied Whistling Duck was seen for several weeks in 2004 at Lake
Chautauqua, just north of Havana, IL.

I
photographed this bird in Aransas, Texas in November 2004.

Contact Us

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